diff --git a/tests/src/python/test_qgsserver.py b/tests/src/python/test_qgsserver.py
index 83200e445be..8469abcd6d2 100644
--- a/tests/src/python/test_qgsserver.py
+++ b/tests/src/python/test_qgsserver.py
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ class QgsServerTestBase(unittest.TestCase):
     # Set to True in child classes to re-generate reference files for this class
     regenerate_reference = False
 
-    def assertXMLEqual(self, response, expected, msg=''):
+    def assertXMLEqual(self, response, expected, msg='', raw=False):
         """Compare XML line by line and sorted attributes"""
         response_lines = response.splitlines()
         expected_lines = expected.splitlines()
@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@ class QgsServerTestBase(unittest.TestCase):
             response_line = response_lines[line_no - 1].strip()
             response_line = response_line.replace(b'e+6', br'e+06')
             # Compare tag
-            if re.match(RE_ELEMENT, expected_line):
+            if re.match(RE_ELEMENT, expected_line) and not raw:
                 expected_elements = re.findall(RE_ELEMENT, expected_line)
                 response_elements = re.findall(RE_ELEMENT, response_line)
                 self.assertEqual(expected_elements[0],
diff --git a/tests/src/python/test_qgsserver_wms.py b/tests/src/python/test_qgsserver_wms.py
index fb8867c2be3..1bb8b76b921 100644
--- a/tests/src/python/test_qgsserver_wms.py
+++ b/tests/src/python/test_qgsserver_wms.py
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ class TestQgsServerWMSTestBase(QgsServerTestBase):
         header, body = self._execute_request(query_string)
         return (header, body, query_string)
 
-    def wms_request_compare(self, request, extra=None, reference_file=None, project='test_project.qgs', version='1.3.0', ignoreExtent=False, normalizeJson=False):
+    def wms_request_compare(self, request, extra=None, reference_file=None, project='test_project.qgs', version='1.3.0', ignoreExtent=False, normalizeJson=False, raw=False):
         response_header, response_body, query_string = self.wms_request(request, extra, project, version)
         response = response_header + response_body
         reference_path = os.path.join(self.testdata_path, (request.lower() if not reference_file else reference_file) + '.txt')
@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ class TestQgsServerWMSTestBase(QgsServerTestBase):
             expected = re.sub(RE_STRIP_EXTENTS, b'*****', expected)
 
         msg = "request %s failed.\nQuery: %s\nExpected file: %s\nResponse:\n%s" % (query_string, request, reference_path, response.decode('utf-8'))
-        self.assertXMLEqual(response, expected, msg=msg)
+        self.assertXMLEqual(response, expected, msg=msg, raw=raw)
 
 
 class TestQgsServerWMS(TestQgsServerWMSTestBase):